Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lifted by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 2.1% in Q1, owning 255,009 shares valued at approximately $56.65 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Apple, with firms like Monness Crespi & Hardt setting a target of $270 and Citigroup reaching $245, indicating a positive outlook.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and initiated a $100 billion share repurchase plan, reflecting confidence in its stock valuation.

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,009 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 4.2% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $56,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.9810 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $229.9090. The company had a trading volume of 20,787,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,647,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.